Kuniyoshi Munakata Ueda, a Japanese scholar who has devoted his life to poetry, has written several Shakespearean plays for the Noh stage. Some of the plays he has written, staged, and directed are Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. Munakata Ueda, who has performed the shite role in many productions, worked for six years before he felt fully capable of chanting English in the Noh style. Find out more about Munakata Ueda and his Noh Shakespearean Group or about other modern Noh theater companies. If possible, bring pictures or a video of a performance to share with the class.

Noh and Kyogen
http://web-japan.org/ factsheet/ noh/ index.html
Noh drama reached its peak during the Edo Period (16031868) when many feudal military officials were patrons of this dramatic art form. However, it nearly died out during the Meiji Period (18681912) when it lost most of its patronage after a shift in Japan's political system. Read these descriptions of Noh theater to learn more about this traditional Japanese art form.